Question: What Is the Just-World Phenomenon?
Answer:
The just-world phenomenon is a term referring to people's tendency to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve. Because people want to believe that the world is fair, they will look for ways to explain or rationalize away injustice - often by blaming the victim.

Those with this belief tend to think that when bad things happen to people, it is because these individuals are bad people or have done something to deserve their misfortune. Conversely, this belief also leads people to think that when good things happen to people it is because those individuals are good and deserving of their happy fortune.

Examples of the Just-World Phenomenon

The classic example of this tendency is found in the Book of Job. In the text, Job suffers a series of terrible calamities and at one point, his former friend suggests that Job must have done something terrible to have deserved his misfortunes.

In one famous study, two stories about an interaction between a man and woman was described to participants. Both stories were identical in every way except for the final outcome. In one version of the story the woman is raped, while in the other version the man proposes marriage. In both versions of the story, participants directly linked the two drastically different outcomes to the woman's actions.

Explanations for the Just-World Phenomenon

There are a few different explanations that have been proposed to explain the just-world phenomenon. First is the idea that people have a need to believe in their own invulnerability. For example, people don't like to think about themselves being the victims of a violent crime. So when they hear about an even such as an assault or a rape, they will blame the event on the behavior of the victim. By doing this, people can go on believing that they will never be the victim of such a crime because they will simply avoid these behaviors.

Another possible explanation for the just-world phenomenon is that people want to reduce the anxiety that is caused by injustices. Believing that the individual is completely responsible for their misfortune, people are able to go on believing that the world is fair and just.

Also Known As:

Just-world theory, just-world hypothesis, just-world fallacy or just-world effect.

A story is told about a King in Africa who had a close friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) by remarking, "This is good, Almighty knows best"

One day the King and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the King. The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after taking the gun from his friend, the King fired it and his thumb was blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good! Almighty knows best."

To which the King replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and ordered his soldiers to put his friend into jail.About a year later, the King was hunting in an area that he should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured the King and took him to their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to the stake.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the King was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone who was less than whole. So after untying the King, they chased him out of the villageWhen the King reached his Palace, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to speak with his friend.

"You were right" the King said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened. " I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this.""No," his friend replied, "this is good , Almighty knows best""What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?"

The King's friend replied: "Remember that the Almighty knows best and if I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you(on this hunting trip)."